Ten Days of CSA: Day 7, Turkey Tomato and Corn Pie

This is a regurgitated post from my personal blog, initially published about a year ago. I know it's sort of cheating, but it's also fitting because it's an example of how, with a little planning, some flour, and a lemon or two, your CSA ingredients can be turned into hearty, belly-warming comfort food. To the friends and relatives who have dutifully read my blogs since their inception: apologies for the re-do. It might be worth skimming nonetheless, however, as I dolled up the pictures a bit.

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Sept. 29, 2009

Today I cooked. It's the first time I've really done that since my mom left last Monday and it was tricky. Sadie was in the Baby Bjorn most of the time and I'm hoping that all that watching-mama's-hands-do-a-million-things-at-once (yeah, I'm that good) will teach her to discover her own hands. I'm thinking once she finds her own hands she might be able to entertain herself a bit more. (As opposed to the current crying and farting - entertainment for the whole family!)

I bet you're wondering what I cooked. And I bet you're wondering if it was good. Well, I made Turkey-Tomato-Corn Pie, and it was excellent. Super tasty and pretty easy if you, say, have a CSA membership and thus have all the ingredients on hand.

The pie was based on the Tomato Corn Pie recipe that, since its appearance in the August 2009 issue of Gourmet, has found its way onto just about every food blog worth reading (except 101cookbooks.com, which is probably the food blog MOST worth reading since it is called a "Healthy Recipe Journal"). My version was only barely adapted from the Everybody Loves Sandwiches version, primarily because the biscuit crust in this version was based on a biscuit recipe that I had used before with great success. (It also was the easiest version and now that I have a baby I am quite fond of all things easy.) I added some turkey (MC doesn't like a meatless dinner), doubled the basil (one can never have too much basil), substituted a leek for the scallion (that's what my CSA had to offer), and - only after making it and learning from my experimentation - would have cut back on the lemon juice a bit, as that made the end result more-than-enough-lemony and a bit runny in my opinion. (MC disagrees; so if you like a runny, uber-lemony savory pie, go ahead and use all that lemon juice called for in the linked recipes. Otherwise, follow recipe below, which has been modified to reflect cut in juice.)

So if you're interested... here's the recipe.

Tomato, Corn and Turkey Pie

Adapted from here and here

Biscuit Dough

2 c flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 c buttermilk

2 T oil (I used canola)

Filling

2 T mayo

1 T lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 lb deli turkey, sliced (this is totally optional, or cooked chicken or ham could be used)

4 delicious bright fresh tomatoes, seeded, sliced, and allowed to sit in a colander for a little while to eliminate as much juice as possible

Large handful basil leaves, torn up a bit (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup corn, fresh or frozen (I used frozen corn from a recent CSA share, but thawed it under running water)

1 medium leek, coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Butter (to grease pan and to glaze top of pie before baking)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a pie plate with butter or spray or whatever is your norm.

Mix together lemon juice, lemon zest, and mayo and set aside.

Whisk together the dry ingredients for the biscuit dough and then add in the buttermilk and oil and stir until tacky dough forms. Roll (or if you are lazy like me, stretch with your hands) half the dough into a large circle and stretch it over bottom and sides of pie plate.

Layer the following: half the turkey, then half the tomatoes, half the basil, salt and pepper, half the corn, half the leek (or scallions), and drizzle with half the lemony mayo. It might look like this:

Now repeat with a second layer and top with cheese.

Roll (stretch) second ball of biscuit dough into another circle and place on top of pie. Seal edges with fingers and/or a fork. Cut a few vents in top (use a sharp knife because the dough is a little bit fragile and sticky) and brush some melted butter over top and rim.

Bake for about thirty minutes and then VOILA! You will have a savory pie that is as delicious as it is lovely.

So easy and delicious and decidedly end-of-summer-esque. To make up for the fact that this post is a repost... I might just have to make this again this weekend.